Improvement in treadle mechanisms



UNITED STATES CHARLES L. SPENCER, OF PR-VID'NCMRHODE ISLAND.

IMPROVEMENT IN TREAD'LE yMECHANISM'S.

Specilication forming part of Lettfrs Patent No. 153,023, dated July 14, 1874; application filed May 14, 1873.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES L. SPENCER, of Providence, -in the county of Providence and State of Rhode Island, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Sewing-Machines, of which the following, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification.

My invention relates to the manner of connectin g the treadle mechanism to the ily-Wheel, and is designed more especially for use in applying the various improved treadle mechanisms to old machines, having the fly-wheel itted to and revolving upon a fixed stud.

In the alteration of such machines, as heretofore practiced, it has been necessary to remove the fly-wheel from the machine, and either make a new one having a long hub or to bore out the old one and drive into it one end of sleeve upon which the propelling mechanism was mounted, either of which modes of operation required the taking of the ily-wheel to a machine-shop to have the work done, which added materially to the cost, and in many cases it could not be done without sending a long distance, as in .many localities where sewing-machines are used there are n o machine-shops within fty miles or more.

To obviate this difculty and produce a device by means of which the propelling mechanism may be coupled to the ily-wheel without any alteration therein is the object of my invention; and it consists in constructing the propelling. mechanism with a sleeve-shaft, upon one end of which is secured the hub of a crank or disk provided with a hole to fit the crank-pin set in the ily-wheel, and mounting said sleeve upon an extension of the stud upon which the ily-wheel revolves.

Instead of the hole in the end of the crank thc end of the crank-arm may be forked and embrace the crank-pin set in the ily-wheel, upon either side; and, in order to insure a 'Y ready connection without eXtra fitting, one

iork of the crank should be provided with a set-screw, by which the crank may be secured to the pin in the wheel, even if the hole or slot be considerably' larger than the pin.

In the drawings, Figure l is a longitudinal section of a sewing-machine table with my improvement applied. Fig. 2 is a transverse section on line w t on Fig. l and Fig'. 3 is a transverse section on linee z on Fig. l, looking from the fly-wheel toward the driving mechanism.

A A are the side frames of a sewing-machine, and B is the table. O is the ily-wheel, provided with the pin c and mounted upon the stud D, all of which is constructed in the usual manner, except that the stud l) is of greater length. E is a sleeve or quill tted to revolve on the stud D, and provided with an enlargement, El, near its middle, in thel periphery of which is formed notches or recesses E2 by cutting away the stock, the bottoms of said recesses being slightly eccentric to the axis of said sleeve. Upon either side of said enlargement are mounted loosely upon the sleeve E two pulleys, F, having recesses formed in their contiguous sides to receive the enlargement El, the rims of said pulleys inclosing it and coming nearly in contact with each other. In the recesses formed between the rims of the pulleys and the enlargement El, on the sleeve E, are placed small steel cylinders b, resting upon small spiral springs,

c, at the deepest ends of said recesses, as i shown, a thin washer, d, being placed between the two pulleys to separate the two sets of cylinders b. If', now, one of the pulleys F is turned in the direction indicated by the arrow, the cylinders b, between the rim of said pulley and the recessed surface in the hub El of the sleeve E, will roll toward the higher part of said recess, and, binding between it and the rim of the pulley, will cause the sleeve E to revolve with the pulley, and when the motion of the pulley is reversed the cylinder b rolls into the deeper part of the recess, and allows the pulley to revolve without moving the sleeve. Upon the end of the sleeveE next the ily-wheel C is secured the crank H, the outer end of which embraces the pin a, and is secured thereto by the set-screw c. Motion is imparted to the pulleys F from the treadles I and I by means of the straps J, K, and L and the pulley M.

The friction mechanisms mounted upon the sleeve E and the means of `imparting motion thereto are no part of my present invention; but my improvement is conned to the mode of coupling'said mechanism or its equivalent PATENT OFFICE.

to the y-Wheel Without alteration in said yis connected to the fly-wheel by means of the wheel, and it is equally Well adapted to any crank-coupling o1' clutch H, substantially as other kind of friction mechanism running updescribed.

on the same stud with the ily-wheel. u Executed at Boston this 12th day of' May,

What I claim as new, and desire to secure l 1873.

by Letters Patent of the United States, is- CEAS. L. SPENCER.

A mechanism actuated -by a treadle or Witnesses: treadles and running on the same stud or N. C. LOMBARD,

shaft as the flywheel when said mechanism S. A. WooD. 

